Summer Solstice

I just came in from a series of errands, involving several shadeless parking lots, as the mercury climbed like an express elevator. It is hot, very, appropriate, I suppose, for the first day of Summer.

Tomorrow Earth will begin its imperceptible swing back on its elliptical north-south axis, withdrawing the Northern Hemisphere from its closest annual proximity to Sol. The heat will continue to build for a month or two. Then slight stirrings of relief in gradually cooler temperatures.

I enjoy all the different seasons, but more often wish Summer over than any other season. Hot, buggy and a great provoker of allergies, that is Summer for me.

Bring on October (the first time this year I have sounded that old refrain.)

Long days to the Solstice

Today is the longest day of the year, when the northern hemisphere is tipped as far towards the sun as it will be until next June 21. The slow counter-rotation leading to the winter solstice begins tomorrow. Today has been brutally hot, so appropriate to the first day of summer in the South.

We have had a whole week of long days, one cat sick and at the vet’s twice, dying the second day, and another escaping Barbara’s grip as we were loading all the remaining animals into the vet’s office for shots. No sign of Chelsea the Fugitive (from what? three squares, shelter from the weather and hostile animals?) We have posted notices around the neighborhood.

It is a long time until October.

Lazy Day

Rained most of the night, I was up early but my beloved slept unaccustomedly late. Moving slow in the dim light of a rainy, cloudy morning. We puttered and Babs slept some more. Got up again and felt so bad she called in sick to work. She tried to rally late in the day, but still not so chipper.

Tomorrow will be better.

I worked on a new webpage, one to attract some business for me, inspection business for housing agencies. Get it up and running, is my plan, then get it out on RSS feeds. With fiscal years ending in June for some area agencies, I might pick up some quality control inspections, which have to be done by someone either a supervisor or an outside contractor.

Tough job market means you have to scratch around.

Saw our former yellow-brown cat, Andy,  today up the street. He moved out when Lucy the Wonder Dog arrived, and displaced Andy as alpha animal. Seems to be well-fed, lots of animal loving folks in this neighborhood.

Seasons

Rain is in the offing, again. Tonight the waning moon rose after eight, blood red shading to gold then silver as it cleared the horizon and attendant air pollution. The Nerdlinger Weather Supposition folks have opined that today will be partly cloudy, with showers in the afternoon possibly changing to snow showers, and again by Wednesday morning. Snow forecasts in Chattanooga and environs are the least dependable of any predictions, any time.

The season is slowly turning towards Spring, each day a little longer. I will enjoy winter while it lasts, and watch for the first buds, the first flowers. Back to the River walk early today. I haven’t walked there for several weeks, other than the bit downtown. I will go to the marshy areas bounded by industrial sites, watching for birds around the pond at Amnicola.

Come on, October

The last hours of September, 2008 are winding down. In terms of weather, we have been spared the roaring heat of last summer, which made the A/C units spin like hyperactive tops all last summer and into September. Still, high eighties much of this September have made me ready for fall weather. The past few mornings have been quite pleasant, hovering around 60 degrees, then heating up into the eighties later in the day.

The official, latest, subject to constant revision, forecast for tonight is “lows in the lower fifties.” Let it be. Goodbye, summer, hello and welcome October.